No Longer Under The Radar Stock Review: Nobel Learning Communities, Inc. (NLCI)
Today, Knowledge Learning Corp, a privately held education provider, said it offered to buy Nobel Learning Communities Inc (NLCI) for $17 a share, which is a 33% premium over NLCIs closing price on the 20th. That caused stocks to soar 25% today to match the offer.
Of course Knowledge Learning offered $17 a share, NLCI is worth that AND more. Nobel Learning Communities, Inc. (NLCI) is a small, 167 million dollar company with a whopping 25% insider ownership. If you’ve been reading Common Sense Investor, you know how much we love insider ownership. This is a tremendous company that has built up a great school system spanning over 16 states. It’s consistently rated highly by teachers, parents, and students. It’s just a solid company.
The unfortunate fact is, they were “under the radar” up until today. After today, people will know that Knowledge Learning wants to buy them, and they’ll start doing research into NLCI. They’ll find the quality, and the stock price will rise. Not really so unfortunate, it’s just a shame you missed out on the one day 25% jump.
As for why they’re so great: The sector is strong, and strong companies in the sector will do doubly well. Every study that’s been done looking into the issue has found that average cost per pupil for public schools is twice that of private schools. Compound that with the fact that private schools do a much better job educating students, and you get the picture. Private schools do a better job for less money. Why do public schools still exist? Ah yes, the government.
Either way, more and more parents are realizing this fact and moving their children to private schools. Even politicians are realizing it and starting contract out programs and even whole school systems to private companies. This is a very good thing for everyone, except maybe bad teachers. This will mean only good things for Nobel Learning since they provide services highly compatible with public schools. They aren’t the haughty-taughty private schools you see in film, with uniforms and Latin classes and mahogany walls. They’re just well-run schools for regular kids. They do a good job, and they’re inexpensive. That’s all there is to it.
Check out this interesting video, not about Nobel Learning specifically, but about the public/private problem:
all cookie cutter centers have the same thing in common. The highger ups get all the money while the providers who work with the children get paid next to nothing. Parents pay alot of money thinking they are getting the best care however its the oppsite.